For the St. Croix rod I'm building I need to settle on a color scheme. The blank is copper pearl and going with black eva grips and a silver hood on the graphite reel seat. Guides will be Fuji titanium with SIC rings. For similar color blanks it seems the most common thread color is red/burgundy with a gold trim. Was then thinking a gold winding check. Reel selection at this point is black/gold but may change.

If anyone has some images or input about what would work I'm open to suggestions.

This is my first build and while I have a good understanding of colors, I've not done a fishing rod scheme before! I had a look in the photo section but nothing relevant popped out at me.

Thanks for your assistance.

Brad

G'Day Brad burgundy with gold always looks very classy

Regards Baz

Bundeena
NSW Australia

Black with red inlays/trim.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

Hi Brad,
The holographic thread by Glissen Gloss and madeira ( needs cp ) will add a good bit of bling to any colour you choose. The stuff is very thin and you may need to double or triple up depending on what size thread your using. It's available in gold, silver, blue , green, red and pink. Similar with madeira but they are a different shade. Changes colour depending on the light angle.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

If you want to have a rod that flows all together from the but to the tip top you should start to combine the components colors. If you have titanium guides why not a reel seat with the same color?
In a cooper blank you can use pearl, metallic orange, gold, brown or any other color that you like if the rod is for you. The purpose of custom rods its not to obey to the existing color scheme. Make your own scheme, one that you like and you will see that looks fantastic in your rod.
Hope to see some photos of that rod.
Abraço

Nuno

Nuno does fantastic looking work so I would heed his advice. Of course many others here do stunning work as well. So take your time, look a lot, and ask a lot of questions.

I have the same color blank. I have not built it yet. I picked an orange thread. It is a little loud but I like a contrast. Otherwise a chestnut or bronze would blend in. Over the years I have used more black, red, and gold thread than any other. So I don't think you can go wrong with them.

I also like the carbon fiber/texalium grips.

You don't mention what the rod will be used for nor the type of reel.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

I would go with what Nuno wrote, about, "..not to obey to the exsiting color scheme", but some are pretty good looking, like I have been told contasting colors works best, but thats just me and my rods, Hope you come out with something you will enjoy and not regret. tight wraps!

I did a that blank before and used clear guide wraps. I ended up marbling the butt with black, gold, and a dull green to give it a tarnished look.

take a look at white creams or pearls and i bet an aqua or turquoise would jump on that blank. sometimes i just wrap some different colors and let it sit for a few days. keep looking at it and you will eventually find what you like. sometimes it takes some time to let your mind relax before making a snap decision.

Guys, some great input there thanks. I'm trying to let the selected components drive my decisions and also not keen to do what everybody else does hence asking this question. The gold winding check will be replaced with something to match the titanium if I can find it, otherwise silver alum. I like the idea of the pearl and maybe that mixed with a blue metallic could be interesting. Originally I was looking at cork grips and thought the copper would look great with that but now going for EVA grips to keep the cost in check.

Russ, got the Sealine X SHV in black with gold at the moment but that may change. The gold on the reel was why I thought the gold winding check originally.

Brandon, what you did sounds great however as this is my first rod I'll give the marbling a miss and make it simple. :)

Thanks again. Brad

Hi Brad

Best to keep it fairly simple but classy.If the reel your using has gold on it then a bit of metallic gold will pick up nice as trims.
Depends if you like the bling or not i guess.But picking out colours from your guides, reel seat and reel would be a good place
to start in my humble opinion.Best of luck with the build.

cheers

Ray Balmforth
Figtree
NSW
Australia

Am I correct that only the nylon and color fast threads are suitable for binding? Are the rest for underbinding and decorative wraps?

You can use other threads, typically those sold as embroidery threads, but they all have some issuses. Mostly they are related to a silicone lubricant applied to the thread. This tends to repel the epoxy finish, creating fisheyes. They also don't have the same strength and stretch factors. IMHO the only compelling reasosn to try them are lower cost and greater color selection. Expect a learning curve so practice.

Regular nyon thread becomes translucent when you apply finish. White becomes clear. Red becomes dark wine colored and you can see the guide foot through it. Regular thread has a sparkle and shine to it that nothing else does. Color fast (NCP) looks dull, like paint to me. The only NCP I buy is white Better to use regular thread and coat with color perserver. That will keep the red, red and you won't be able to see thru it. Black does not require it and is the easiest to work with. Metallic threads don't require CP either. They can be a little harder to work with and may fade. They are a great choice for little trim inlays and accent bands. You can mix and match to get what you want. For example, a silver metallic underwrap with regular red over top takes on a candy apple red look.

Size A works for anything and everything. If you are blind and arthritic, size D is easier to use and an acceptable choice on 20/30# class and up.

So if you can find the colors you want in regular nylon I would do so. The difference between using well behaved thread the takes finish correctly.....and misbehaving thread that doesn't.....is quite large.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Hi Brad,
There are a lot of different threads suitable for guide binding. Apart from the rodbuilding specific threads such as gudebrod, fish hawk etc a lot of the sewing threads are good. Embroidery threads like madeira and mettler are good and have some great colours. I've done some testing on the strength of madeira and it is more consistent and just as strong as any of the rodbuilding threads I've got. Stick with polyester thread as it's the best. The only problem with embroidery threads is they contain silicon for use in machines and you need to put three coats of cp on it before the finish or you get fisheyes in the finish. I've been using madeira for about five years and never had a problem with any guides. If you try any other threads then do some testing on strength before use on guide wraps. Madeira breaks at around 1.2kg so anything over 1kg would be fine. The mettler thread is only half as strong as madeira and I would limit the use of that to underbindings, trim or decorative stuff.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Hello Col.

What lenght of thread are you testing?
Are you testing all threads at the same lenght?
Good info, Thanks!

Tight Wraps.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Hi Robert,
Did all my tests using 300mm(1 foot) of thread between the scales and a pencil at the other end. You can get away without knots by just winding the thread around the holding the tags and hang on. Most of mine didn't break near the ends but somewhere in the middle. Tried to to keep everything the same as I could. Only tested madeira, pac bay and a small amount of gudebrod, all "a" thread. Madeira was the most consistent and had the best breaking strains by a small amount. The gudebrod showed the most variation but I only had a couple of spools and it was fairly old. Been kept in a box in the dark so it was probably fairly representaive. Need to get someone like you who has threads like fish hawk and pro wrap to do more tests for comparison. The only other thread I've got is speed thread and that's only in "c" size and you guys have probably never heard of it.
One thing for sure is that I think I've put to rest the rumour that madeira thread isn't strong enough for guide wraps but some comparison with other threads would be great.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Helo Col.

What is the brand and model of your scale?
As you said I do have a bunch of the Pro Wrap, Fish Hawk and Gudebrod.

If I can find the proper scale I might do a few tests.

Thanks Col.

Keep Em Tight.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Hi Bob,
The scales are "Little Sampson's" , made in England. Put a few known weights ie 500grm,1kg and 1.5kg on them and they are pretty spot on. If anything they're reading just a shade light but not very much, maybe 25 grms at 1kg. They're my drag scales and measure 10kg x 250 grms. Need a line tester to do it properly and I could probably borrow a set from the local sportfishing club and they're very accurate, have to get tested and certified every year. If you use a set like mine you have to watch them closely a need to do a little bit of estimating if it breaks between the graduations. Just pull slowly and you'll get a pretty accurate result.
Going to do some more tests on the threads I've got to determine the percentage stretch just prior to breaking. If you could do some of those as well that would be good. I'm going to use the same length ie 300mm. Will post when I get it done.
Thanks for the help

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Hello Col.

Thanks for the info and I will see what I can come up with then get back with you on another thread!

Thanks Again.

Tight Wraps.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.